HCM City among world's top cultural destinations for 2019

Vietnam’s southern city Ho Chi Minh City has claimed a place on UK travel website Culture Trip’s list of the 12 best cities for culture in the world in 2019.

A corner of HCM City (Photo: VNA)

The 12 destinations on the shortlist are chosen based on an analysis of cities that have seen the highest growth in millennial interest on the Culture Trip site and app and a survey of 300 of the company’s local creators, who are based around the globe.

Ranked fourth, Ho Chi Minh City is described as an affordable destination with a buzzing cultural scene to match, making it perfect for cash-strapped millennial travellers. “A booming economy has brought a roaring energy to the city, palpable as soon as you leave the airport, and that energy increases as soon as you try ‘ca phe da’ (iced Vietnamese coffee), a jolt of caffeine and sugar like no other,” the site wrote.

It also recommended travellers meander around the city’s neighbourhoods and hidden alleyways in search of street food and displays of public art.

The first three places on the list were Oaxaca City (Mexico), Porto (Portugal), and Austin (US).

Formerly Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. It welcomed over 7 million foreign visitors in 2018. The local tourism sector has been growing at around 15 percent each year over recent years.

The city set a target to expand tourism growth of between 15-20 percent and serve about 8-8.5 million foreign holiday makers in 2019.

To draw more tourists to the city, the local tourism sector has paid attention to improving the quality of human resources in the field, enhancing tourism promotion activities, promoting technology application in tourism management and developing new products.

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